General Endocrinology

SUN-841 - Heterogeneity of Serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6) Levels Across Demographic Groups in Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Sunday, June 14, 2026

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM CT

Location: ENDOExpo; Poster Floor

Abstract Poster Presenter(s)

Anshika H. Motiani, B.S. (she/her/hers)

HOWARD UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Homestead, FL, United States

Co-Author(s)

Md Ahasanur Rahman, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
Howard University
Rockville, MD, United States
AZ

Arsema Zadu, MS

Medical Student
Howard University College of Medicine
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
HB

Helen Bui, MD

Howard University College of Medicine
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
CA

Chiemelum Amechi, MD

University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
GO

Ginette A. Okoye, MD

Department Chair
Howard University College of Medicine
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Senior Author/Primary Investigator(s)

AB

Angel Byrd, MD, PhD

Howard University College of Medicine
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Stanley Andrisse, MBA, PhD (he/him/his)

Associate Professor
Howard University College of Medicine
Washington, DC, United States

Co-Author(s)

MB

Madison Blackwell, BS

Medical Student
Howard University
Washington, DC, United States

Disclosure(s):

Anshika H. Motiani, B.S.: No financial relationships to disclose

Md Ahasanur Rahman, PhD: No financial relationships to disclose

Objective: To compare serum IL-6 levels among HS patients across race/ethnicity, age, sex, and Hurley stage.

Background: HS is an inflammatory disorder that disproportionately affects Black patients in the U.S. Metabolic disorders and obesity have been widely implicated in HS pathophysiology, with hyperinsulinemia and hyperleptinemia contributing to adipose-driven inflammatory dysregulation. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key pro-inflammatory cytokine implicated in metabolic and immune pathways. While prior studies have demonstrated elevated TNF-α levels in HS, the extent to which IL-6 varies across demographic groups and contributes to disease heterogeneity remains incompletely understood.

Methods: Serum samples were collected from 57 HS patients at the Howard University Department of Dermatology. Of 38 analyzable ELISA samples, 7 patients were in Hurley stage I, 10 in stage II, 16 in stage III, and 5 lacked Hurley data. Ten patients were male, and 28 were female. One patient was Asian, 30 were Black, and 7 were White. Seventeen patients were aged 18–29 years, and 21 were aged 30 years or older.

Results: Serum IL-6 levels were elevated relative to published healthy reference ranges in a subset of patients and demonstrated substantial inter-individual variability, with no consistent differences by race/ethnicity, age, or sex. Across Hurley stages, IL-6 levels did not show a consistent increase with disease severity. The White cohort demonstrated the highest mean IL-6 levels and the greatest variance, whereas the Black cohort exhibited more tightly clustered values.

Conclusion: Although mean IL-6 levels appeared higher among White participants, this finding was driven by a small number of high outliers, reflecting heterogeneity in inflammatory burden rather than a consistent race/ethnicity-associated difference. Future studies will integrate multi-cytokine profiling in diverse cohorts to compare stage- and race/ethnicity-associated inflammatory variability between IL-6 and other pro-inflammatory cytokines.

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